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Bees with poor decision making skills worth keeping

Ok, when it rains it pours.

Was shown two hives today. Are these bees that bad at making decisions of where to place a hive and is that sign that we should leave them for nature to weed out.

The first is in a pallet. Yes a simple wooden mostly rotten pallet with a small bush growing through it. The comb is visible crossing between slats and there is nothing to cover the sides. The comb doesn't even follow the pallet boards well, but is crossways.

The second is in a roll of that erosion cloth attached to 2x4 wire mesh. The roll was used, rolled up and dumped with a plastic bag in the middle that they build the comb under plus a lot of debris.

It dropped to mid 30s tonight as well as tomorrow night, then back into the 80s. The comb would be great to have even if they don't survive. No electricity and don't have an inverter for the vac. So it might be interesting to try to gather them each into a nuc and save them.

Re: Bees with poor decision making skills worth keeping

Sqkcrk - Hmmm, didn't think about that but they were not aggressive when the people found them.

The ones in the erosion fabric had the plastic bag yanked off them a few days back (while in the 70s) and didn't really stir up much. The ones in the pallet were sitting next to a 120 hp diesel engine that has been ran, removed, installed and ran some more. All within 10 feet of the pallet. They just saw them first part of this week.

Re: Bees with poor decision making skills worth keeping

Hehehe - None of mine have been paying jobs. I figured the cost of a nuc or the cost of a package versus my time, it about evens out, I get free bees and my dollars go to hive or frame. If I do get paid for one it will be a bonus.

Plus like Mr Beeman said the knowledge of seeing the working hives up close, comb by comb and how the bees built it, where they lay the brood, it all helps understanding things.

Re: Bees with poor decision making skills worth keeping

Originally Posted by marshmasterpat

Hehehe - None of mine have been paying jobs. I figured the cost of a nuc or the cost of a package versus my time, it about evens out, I get free bees and my dollars go to hive or frame. If I do get paid for one it will be a bonus.

Plus like Mr Beeman said the knowledge of seeing the working hives up close, comb by comb and how the bees built it, where they lay the brood, it all helps understanding things.

Guess I will try to remove them next week.

Yeah, your knowledge & understanding of humans and your time will come. I would love to get home improvement jobs around my house done for free! Also keep in mnd, there is no guarantee that the bees will survive your removals. However, these two colonies seem to be straight forward and already "exposed". Have you considered combining them? Can you see their actual size/numbers?

Re: Bees with poor decision making skills worth keeping

Fields - I only do removals, repairs are not part of my game. Plus they have been from trees, a barn, a shed, then underneath a trailer and a modular office. Only pull open the boards or cut the plastic sheeting and move the insulation aside. Now if I was to start repairing things, hmmmm, that would get mighty expensive. The only repairs I work on are my house and direct family, that is plenty enough for me.

I have some nucs I can put them in plus a set of breeding nucs. If the hives are small they will go into one of those, put a top feeder on and see what happens. If no queen, well I have been looking at some of those Minnesota hygienic or California hygienic to try out. Or maybe a carnelian.

Both are small will try to look at them tomorrow after work. Will be passing right by. The one in the pallet has several (4 or 5) rows of comb visible. What I can save is a different story. There is weeds growing through the middle and they were active yesterday. It will be interesting.